The Studio
← Resources
Brand Identity System

Taste is the bottleneck.
Build accordingly.

A living instruction set for defining brand identity across AI-native ventures. Minimal, refined, considered. Designed to be fed into any AI tool, appended to any project brief, and evolved as conviction develops.

v2.0Feb 2026Minimal & Refined
00 — Foundation

Design Philosophy

Before tools, before colors, before type. The principles that govern every decision in this system.

On what's defensible
The expensive part is having the taste and judgment to know what to build.

Building is fast and cheap. Debating is unnecessary. Taste + judgment is the bottleneck. This brand system exists to codify and scale that taste.

On material
The material of design has changed. In 2026, the material is data.

Real API responses, real LLM outputs, real user inputs flowing through real logic. The product is the intelligence underneath, not the screen. Your brand identity must work across whatever interface gets generated.

On authenticity
Verification, not generation, is the bottleneck.

In a world of infinite content, trust and credibility compound. The brand should signal human curation, independent thought, and considered craft. The antithesis of slop.

On the role
The wall between disciplines is the job description. Those walls are coming down.

Designer, engineer, PM — these converge into one thing: builder. The brand system serves builders. It needs to work in Figma, in code, in natural language, in whatever comes next.

Core Design Principles
  • Show, don't decorate. Every element earns its place. If it doesn't serve clarity, remove it.
  • Precision is personality. Refinement communicates more confidence than saturation ever could.
  • Data structure is branding. The interaction logic, the workflow intelligence — that persists across generated interfaces. Design for the persistent layer.
  • Build with the real material. Don't mock intelligence. Work with real data, real APIs, real outputs from day one.
  • Curate relentlessly. In a world fighting for attention with cheap content, restraint is the signal. Quality is the moat.
  • Natural language is the durable interface. Design systems that can be described, not just drawn. If you can't articulate it clearly, the model can't build it.
02 — Calibration

Taste Coordinates

The single source of truth. Every tool, every prompt, every decision references this section.

Aesthetic Position

Minimal & Refined

  • Minimal — restraint, not absence. Every element is intentional.
  • Serious — gravitas without coldness. Warm precision.
  • Geometric — clean structure, sharp alignment, mathematical spacing.
  • Contemporary — current craft, not trends. Timeless over fashionable.
  • Quiet confidence — presence through quality, not volume.
Reference Anchors

What You Admire

Name 3-5 brands. For each, one sentence on what specifically you admire.

  • Stripe — editorial typography that makes infrastructure feel like design
  • Vercel — obsessive precision in spacing, weight, and hierarchy
  • Linear — dark mode restraint + gradient accents that feel premium
  • Apple — the discipline of saying less and meaning more
Anti-References

What You Avoid

  • No gradient-on-black crypto aesthetic
  • No stock-photo hero sections
  • No over-saturated SaaS color palettes
  • No illustration styles that signal "startup playfulness"
  • No visual noise mistaken for visual interest
  • No slop. No cheap. No generated-looking.
Instruction

Defining Your Coordinates

  • Pick reference brands you genuinely reach for, not aspirational ones that sound impressive.
  • For each anchor, write what specifically you admire. "Their color" is useless. "Their restraint in using one accent color against near-black" is useful.
  • Anti-references prevent AI drift toward generic. Be specific: "No centered-text-on-gradient landing pages" beats "nothing ugly."
  • Revisit quarterly. Taste evolves. Update here first, then cascade.
03 — Color

Color System

Restraint, not absence. A minimal palette used with precision communicates more confidence than a saturated one.

Instruction

Palette Architecture

  • PRIMARY (1 color): Your signature, used sparingly. For minimal & refined, this is often a near-black (#171717), a deep blue-gray, or a single precise accent. It should feel inevitable, not chosen.
  • NEUTRALS (4-5 shades): The real palette. Near-black for text (#171717). Mid-gray for secondary (#525252). Light gray for borders (#E5E5E5). Off-white for backgrounds (#FAFAFA). Pure white for surfaces. These do 90% of the work.
  • ACCENT (1 color, max 2): Used at 5% of total surface area. For status indicators, CTAs, and moments that need attention. Consider: a warm red, a precise blue, or a natural green. Never neon.
  • RULE: Never use pure black (#000000). Use #171717 or #0A0A0A for warmth. Never use pure white (#FFFFFF) for page backgrounds. Use #FAFAFA or #FEFEFE.
  • Dark mode: Design from day one. Invert your neutral scale. Accent stays the same or gets slightly desaturated.

Khroma

Color AI

ML-trained on your preferences. Feed it your neutral-forward aesthetic to calibrate.

Best for: discovering the right accent

khroma.co →

Huemint

Color AI

Shows colors in context on real UI mockups. Essential for testing restraint.

Best for: validating palette in context

huemint.com →

Coolors

Generator

Lock your neutrals, generate accent options around them. Export to any format.

Best for: rapid export to development

coolors.co →
04 — Typography

Type System

Typography does the heavy lifting in a minimal system. When color is restrained, type carries the personality.

Instruction

Font Strategy

  • DISPLAY / HEADINGS: A geometric or grotesque sans with subtle character. Top tier: Inter, Geist, Satoshi, Instrument Sans. These read as modern without trying. Weight: Semibold or Bold, tight letterspacing (-0.02 to -0.035em).
  • BODY: Optimize for reading. The display font at regular weight often works. Alternatively: Inter, DM Sans. Size: 15-16px. Line-height: 1.6-1.7. Color: #525252, not full black.
  • MONO: Essential for AI/tech. IBM Plex Mono, Geist Mono, JetBrains Mono. Used for labels, metadata, code, technical details. Size: 1-2px smaller than body.
  • RULE: Two families maximum. One sans + one mono is the refined standard. Three is noise.
  • TEST: Your type must work at 11px metadata AND 52px hero text. If it only looks good big, it's a display font pretending to be a system.
Instruction

Type Scale — 1.2 Minor Third

  • Hero: 44-52px — Semibold/Bold, letterspacing -0.035em
  • H1: 32px — Semibold, letterspacing -0.03em
  • H2: 24px — Semibold, letterspacing -0.02em
  • H3: 18px — Medium, letterspacing -0.01em
  • Body: 15px — Regular, line-height 1.65
  • Small: 13px — Regular, line-height 1.55
  • Mono/Label: 11px — Medium, uppercase, letterspacing +0.06em

FontJoy

Pairing AI

ML-powered pairing. Set contrast low for refined combinations.

Best for: finding subtle pairings

fontjoy.com →

Vercel Design

Reference

Vercel's own design guidelines. The gold standard for minimal type systems.

Best for: studying refined hierarchy

vercel.com/design →
06 — Visual Language

Visual System

In a minimal system, every visual choice is amplified. The negative space speaks as loudly as the elements.

Elements

Visual Vocabulary

  • Borders, not shadows. 1px solid, light gray. Clean edges over ambient depth.
  • Radius: Consistent. 6-8px for cards, 4-5px for buttons and inputs. Never mixed.
  • Whitespace: Generous. 80px+ between sections. Space is not empty — it's structure.
  • Dividers: Thin rules (1px, #E5E5E5) to separate, not heavy borders to contain.
  • Motion: Subtle, fast. 150-200ms ease-out. No bounce, no spring. Presence, not performance.
Photography

If Used

  • Subject: Real people, real contexts. No staging.
  • Treatment: Desaturated 10-15%. Slight contrast lift. Cool or neutral tone.
  • Composition: Generous negative space. Off-center. Crop boldly.
  • Never: Handshakes. Pointing at screens. Holographic UI. Staged diversity.

UI Libraries Worth Studying

These represent the quality bar for implementation. Study their spacing, transitions, and component architecture.

StyleUI

Components

Refined component library with considered defaults and excellent spacing.

www.styleui.dev →

InterfaceCraft

Components

Craft-focused UI primitives built for quality-conscious projects.

www.interfacecraft.dev →

Motion Primitives

Animation

Subtle, purposeful animation components. Presence without performance.

motion-primitives.com →

Prompt Kit

AI UI

Components specifically designed for AI/LLM interfaces and agentic UIs.

www.prompt-kit.com →

Vercel Guidelines

Reference

The benchmark for minimal, precise digital design systems.

vercel.com/design/guidelines →

Rams.ai

Agentic UI

AI-native design tools inspired by Dieter Rams principles. Form follows function.

www.rams.ai →
07 — Voice

Voice & Copy

The written equivalent of your visual restraint. Every word earns its place.

Voice Attributes

How It Sounds

  • Precise, not cold. Say exactly what you mean. No hedging, no filler. But write like a person.
  • Quiet confidence. Strong opinions stated calmly. No exclamation marks. No ALL CAPS.
  • Technical clarity. Explain complex things simply. No jargon for jargon's sake.
  • Considered brevity. Short isn't curt. Every sentence does work. Know when more serves the reader.
  • Independent thought. Original positions, not industry consensus restated. Supercredibility.
Copy Formulas

Patterns

  • Headlines: Outcome first. Short. Under 8 words ideal.
  • Subheads: One sentence. Adds specificity the headline omits.
  • CTAs: Active verb, specific. "Start building" not "Learn more."
  • Product copy: What it does → why it matters. Two sentences max.
  • Error states: Helpful, human, never generic. These are brand moments.

Writer

Enterprise

Brand graph for style enforcement. Keeps teams on-voice at scale.

Best for: org-wide consistency

writer.com →

Jasper AI

Copy

Voice training + generation. Feed attributes for consistent output across content types.

Best for: scaling brand copy

jasper.ai →
08 — Stack

Tool Stack

Every tool vetted for quality-first, AI-native workflows.

Brandbuildr.ai

Strategy

NLP-driven brand strategy. Understands objectives and audience, outputs unified strategy.

Best for: zero-to-one brand positioning

brandbuildr.ai →

HipClip

Identity

Brand values to identity system in under 90 minutes. Guidelines, colors, type, standards.

Best for: rapid identity from positioning

hipclip.ai →
09 — Prompts

Prompt Library

Copy-paste into any AI tool. Replace brackets with venture-specific values.

Brand Foundation — System Prompt
You are designing for [COMPANY NAME], a [ONE-LINE DESCRIPTION]. Brand personality: minimal, refined, considered, human-forward. Visual style: clean geometry, neutral-dominant palette, generous whitespace, typography-led hierarchy. Primary color: [HEX]. Neutrals: #171717, #525252, #A3A3A3, #E5E5E5, #FAFAFA. Display font: [FONT]. Body font: [FONT]. Mono: [FONT]. Reference brands: Stripe, Vercel, Linear. Anti-references: over-saturated SaaS, crypto neon, stock-photo startups. Every output should feel curated and considered. Restraint is the signal. Quality is the moat. If something doesn't serve clarity, remove it.
Logo — AI Image Generation
Design a minimal logo mark for [COMPANY NAME]. Geometric, single weight, reducible to one color. Must work at 16px and 512px. Style: clean, precise, understated. References: Vercel's triangle, Linear's mark, Notion's block. One shape, one idea. No gradients, no effects, no literal AI imagery. Show on white (#FAFAFA) and near-black (#171717). Vector-clean edges. --ar 1:1 --style raw
Landing Page — Framer / Website Builder
Create a landing page for [COMPANY NAME]. Hero: left-aligned headline in [DISPLAY FONT], semibold, -0.035em letterspacing. One line of subtext in #525252. One CTA: solid #171717 button with white text, 8px radius. Below fold: simple feature grid, no icons, just bold labels with one-sentence descriptions. Background: #FAFAFA. Borders: 1px #E5E5E5. Cards: 8px radius, white fill. Section spacing: 96px minimum. No gradients, no shadows, no decoration. Typography does the work.
Social Templates — Canva / Design Tool
Create 5 social templates for [COMPANY NAME]. 1080x1080px. Style: minimal, typographic, clean. Background: #FAFAFA or #171717 alternating. Text: [DISPLAY FONT]. Monospace labels in [MONO FONT] at 11px, uppercase. Templates: product feature, founder quote, metric highlight, team spotlight, launch. Logo mark bottom-right at 30% opacity. No stock imagery, no illustrations. Let the words and whitespace carry it.
Voice — Claude / Any LLM
You are the voice of [COMPANY NAME]. Tone: precise but warm, quietly confident, technically clear, deliberately brief. No buzzwords, no passive voice, no exclamation marks, no filler adjectives. Reference: how Stripe writes documentation, how Vercel writes changelogs, how Linear writes release notes. Write [CONTENT TYPE] for [AUDIENCE]. Every sentence should earn its place. If you can say it in fewer words, do.
Per-Venture Custom Instructions — Claude Project Template
You are the brand designer for [VENTURE NAME], which [ONE-LINE DESCRIPTION].

Follow the Brand Identity System uploaded to this project. Apply these venture-specific overrides:

Primary color: [HEX]
Accent color: [HEX]
Display font: [FONT]
Mono font: [FONT]
Reference anchors: [BRAND 1] (what you admire), [BRAND 2] (what you admire)
Anti-references: [BRAND 1] (what to avoid), [BRAND 2] (what to avoid)
Voice modifier: [e.g. "slightly more technical" or "slightly warmer"]

Core principles from the master system always apply:
- Restraint is the signal
- Typography does the heavy lifting
- Data structure is the branding layer that persists
- Every element earns its place
- Build with real material, not mocks
10 — Evolution

Governance

How this system grows without losing coherence.

Versioning

Treat It Like Code

  • Core changes (color, font, logo) = major version
  • Application updates = minor version
  • This document is the single source of truth
  • Keep a changelog. Future-you will thank you.
  • Quarterly review of taste coordinates
Extending

How to Append

  • New touchpoints: Add a subsection with context + instruction + prompt
  • New tools: Add to the relevant stack section
  • Taste shifts: Update Section 02 first. Cascade from there.
  • Never delete, archive. Evolution is part of the story.